Key features of analysis essays

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  careful and critical reading of a text reveals what the text says, how it works, and what it means. In an analysis essay, you pay attention to the details of the text, especially its thesis and evidence.

• A thesis offers a clear judgment of a text and anchors your analysis. Your thesis might be the answer to a question you have posed about the text or the resolution of a problem you have identified in the text.

  Putting your working thesis to the “So what?” test

  Drafting an analytical thesis statement for a written text

• Support for the thesis comes from evidence in the text. You summarize, paraphrase, and quote passages that support the claims you make about the text.
• A balance of summary and analysis helps readers who may not be familiar with the text you are analyzing. A summary answers the question of what a text says; an analysis looks at how a text makes its point.

  Balancing summary with analysis for a written text